Lock Pascal Pape is to stay as captain of France for the Six Nations
tournament despite the return to the squad of Thierry Dusautoir, coach
Philippe Saint-Andre announced on Friday.

The Stade Francais forward, capped 45 times for his country, was handed the skipper's role for France's November Test matches after Dusautoir was rested to fully recover from injuries.

The French won all three games under his captaincy against Australia, Argentina and Samoa - and that was enough to convince Saint-Andre to stick with Pape despite the return of Dusautoir.

Dusautoir has captained France 31 times in 54 appearances, most notably at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand where France reached the final and he was named international player of the year.

In announcing a 33-strong squad, Saint-Andre also handed a return to the international scene to powerful Toulon centre Mathieu Bastareaud, who has been out of favour since the win over England in March 2010.

Elsewhere, Saint-Andre largely stuck with the group that he used in the November Tests, with the only uncapped player being 22-year-old Perpignan lock Romain Taofifeuna.